Paul Collingwood retires from Test cricket

Paul Collingwood called time on his Test career just minutes before England took the field on the fourth day in Sydney.

Calling it a day: Paul Collingwood walks off after being dismissed on Wednesday (Action Images)

The batsman announced his retirement from the longest form of the game after another failure with the bat yesterday.

Collingwood, with a top score of 42 in the series, went into day three conceding he needed a big innings to silence the doubters.

He walked off, 13 awkward runs later, with many pundits wondering whether he would bat in Test cricket again. After a night’s sleep, Collingwood decided he will not.

A limited-overs stalwart and World Twenty20-winning captain, his last Test score of note (82) came against Pakistan in July and, at 34 years old, he has decided the chance has gone to revive his career in the spectacular way Alastair Cook has done.

Opener Cook was under massive pressure going into the series but scored 189 in England’s first innings in Sydney to add to his double-ton in Brisbane and century in Adelaide. His efforts, along with Ian Bell’s first Ashes century, saw the tourists close on a series victory, ending day three with a 208-run lead.

Cook admitted he was finding it hard to believe his prolific form.

‘You could only have dreamt about it six or seven weeks ago,’ said the 26-year-old. ‘I can’t really believe what I’ve achieved and what the side have achieved.

‘Form comes and goes, I couldn’t hit the middle of the bat six months ago. I don’t quite know why, it’s the secret of sport, why form comes and goes so quickly.

‘I had a tough summer [but] once you score runs, people tend to leave you alone.’